THIN ICE |BOOK I |BWWM|

•ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 33•

•SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA•

Julia POV

I picked through the meticulously weaved wicker basket filled to the brim with bath bombs and soaps that waited on the bathroom counter as I grumbled to myself.

The rushed cleanup I did before eating did absolutely nothing for me and I found myself back in the bathroom hunched under the lingering weight brought on by the events at the dinner table.

Maybe dinnertime isn't for me anymore.

In the past month I'd completely lost the enjoyment in it. Either I was being grilled about my past, pressured to date a dangerous man, or forced to face uncomfortable reality.

This evening I had the utmost pleasure of being stared down by a random dark-haired, sharp jaw-lined, perfect cheek-boned woman.

Put aside the fact that Adrian's introduction of us made me feel as if I were on an episode of sister wives, and the idea that this woman possibly committed first-degree murder in her head several times throughout the meal—with me as her victim—dinner was bearable.

And I owe that to it only lasting all of thirty minutes.

I rolled a bath bomb from the top of the pile in my palm and tossed it into the rising hot water.

What was her name?

Gina?

Gia?

I shimmied out of my tired t-shirt and and jeans, leaving those thoughts in the pile beside the sink.

Dinner wasn't what I needed on my mind right now.

I hadn't seen Nicolai since I woke up and every second away from him tore me to shreds. Not to mention the fact that Olivia's father had been shot today, I had no way of calling Matías...and Andres was dead.

"Just leave us alone." I regretfully repeated my last stinging words to him.

I hadn't known alone.

Even in the shadows, Andres still protected us, provided for us, and loved us.

I'm stupid to think I could do without him.

I dipped my foot into the superheated water that was now coated with a layer of somniferous bubbles and sunk down until the steam reached just below my nose as I plotted my escape.

Despite my efforts, I couldn't manage to shake the foreboding tension twisting my stiff muscles and the interesting nugget of information Adrian's new fling spilled.

"What do you mean your brother drained all the accounts?"

"It means that until the Maniscalco family gets back in its feet, Mancini's our cash cow."

It was still unclear the situation, but being around the crime business for most of my adult life was not lost on me; and I recognized a diversion when I saw one.

The Maniscalco family was caught in its own chains; and their weakest link would be my ticket out.

I soaked in the water for another half hour before washing up and getting out. My eyes glazed as I wrapped a towel around my hair then body while robotically brushing me teeth.

Why would Andres siphon off all the money like that?

How did Adrian even find us? Did Andres tell him?

If that woman is his wife now, why am I here?

After deplaquing my teeth and gums, I swished warm water in my mouth and spit.

I lifted my head while wiping my mouth to meet a pair of prying pupils that carried a predator's fevered surveillance.

I remember now.

Gaia Fiore.

"Can I...help you?" I set my folded dirty clothes back on the counter, resting my hip against it.

"Nope. Just came to see what's been keeping Adrian from me for all these years." She folded her arms, ruffling her oversized button down.

"Doesn't seem like I did too much damage—ya' got em' didn't you?"

"Only on paper, but you still got his heart."

My words could barely overcome the scoff that erupted from the middle of my throat, "I'd rather have the paper. What do you want?"

"I came to talk."

"We don't have anything to talk about." I gathered my clothes, taking steps toward the exit.

"Yeah.," —she nodded— "Yeah we do."

Gaia locked the door and broadly strutted closer as she flipped her ebony-dyed waves that bounced over her sashaying shoulders.

"I don't know what you know, but I've been with Adrian for months paying my dues, and no lying dead woman is gonna keep me from getting what I deserve—a place in the Maniscalco family and the man that leads it."

With my energy stores running on fumes, I shakily sighed as my lips gapped.

"You stupid or something? I don't want that man. In case you didn't know; I wasn't invited here. He's got my child."

"I know. That's the problem."

My eyelids slid closed then back open as the neurons in my brain struggled to keep firing.

I'm working on four hours of sleep and she's telling me riddles.

"What's the problem?"

"You gave him the one thing he can't get from me."

The hand smoothing through my hair paused at the curled tips as another reality planted itself in my mind and I took one step back.

"And now," —Gaia sighed, her head tipping backwards— "You're back. He's got no need for me."

"Trust me, I'm sure he'll find something."

"You don't get it!"

Gaia pulled a pairing knife from her semi unbuttoned shirt as blotches of blood already stained the crisp glimmering blade.

My arms shot up in defense as my eyes searched for a weapon of choice. During my search, Gaia unskillful lunged at me—the top of the blade slicing into the edge of my forearm.

My hand smacked against the weeping wound as I stumbled, my heel slipping against my dropped clothes.

"Adrian's a powerful man. It came with pain being with someone like him. I didn't go through what I did for nothing." Gaia growled.

The unrelenting sting radiating from my injury forced me into a panicked focus.

"Instead of trying to kill me, why not help me find a way get away from him?"

Like a giraffe learning to walk for the first time, Gaia charged in my direction. I swept my jeans under the sole of her foot, driving her to the unrelenting tile and sending the knife skidding across the floor.

My shins met harshly with her hip and I mounted her back, binding her wrists and pressing them into her spine.

"Look! Killing me isn't gonna put you in his good graces." I hissed while shoving her cheek further into the floor.

"I don't need your help or advice, Julia!"

"Yes. Believe it or not, you do—and I need yours."